Reinventing targeted marketing

Facebook uses a real people platform which helps travel marketers improve key metrics such as awareness, customer acquisition, cross-selling, and accelerating mobile adoption, informs Saurav Chakraborty, Industry Manager-Travel, Hyperlocal and Classifieds

Social networking giant Facebook has, for long, ventured beyond connecting people and has continuously been exploring other avenues like travel. India alone boasts over 150 million users and the organisation is utilising its widespread reach and massive database for travel marketing. How it works

Facebook believes it provides targeted marketing on a large scale which Chakraborty explains, “Traditional online marketing relies on cookies and on a mobile platform, cookies become redundant when the path to purchase involve multiple devices. Being a real people platform, it is able to reach out to travellers across devices and communicate the brands message appropriately at every stage of travel.”

Given the intersection of mobile usage and the personal nature of travel, Facebook’s large ad format and creative canvas makes it the prime mobile platform for hotels, airlines, OTAs and other travel companies, he comments. “Be it increasing Olacabs' new customer acquisition rate by 3X within five weeks or using Custom Audiences (CRM Matching) to give Cleartrip a 2.5X return of their ad spend, we help travel marketers achieve their key business metrics, at every stage of the marketing funnel.” Predominant trends

According to Chakraborty, travel advertisers are seeing a majority of their traffic and sales happen on mobile (mSite and App). He adds, “Although the travel industry is inherently social and mobile, the ecosystem is still refining their mobile strategy. We have seen that once they accelerate the use of Facebook and Instagram they are able to drive business more effectively on mobile.”

A bulk of travel bookings in India are air travel, reveals Chakraborty, but the margins on air tickets is wafer thin. “Additionally, the percentage of Indians booking hotels/holidays online is still very small. This is mainly due to the traditional consumer habits of checking rooms at the location, fear of booking online, etc.”

However, the introduction of Pay at Hotel feature by several OTAs has caused a surge in the number of people booking hotels online with mobile first offerings that help accelerate this even further. Additionally, he opines, “As last-minute bookings and long weekends become more prevalent, hotel booking volumes will amplify considerably over the next few years.”

Although the travel industry is inherently social and mobile, the ecosystem is still that once they accelerate the use of Facebook and Instagram they are able to drive business more effectively on mobile. Saurav Chakraborty Industry Manager - Travel, Hyperlocal